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    A Child's Garden of Verses
    A Child's Garden of Verses
    A Child's Garden of Verses
    Ebook82 pages30 minutes

    A Child's Garden of Verses

    By Robert Louis Stevenson

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    About this ebook

    "A Child's Garden of Verses" is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic collection of children's poems. The following poems are included: To Alison Cunningham, Bed in Summer, A Thought, At the Sea-Side, Young Night-Thought, Whole Duty of Children, Rain, Pirate Story, Foreign Lands, Windy Nights, Travel, Singing, Looking Forward, A Good Play, Where Go the Boats?, Auntie's Skirts, The Land of Counterpane, The Land of Nod, My Shadow, System, A Good Boy, Escape at Bedtime, Marching Song, The Cow, The Happy Thought, The Wind, Keepsake Mill, Good and Bad Children, Foreign Children, The Sun Travels, The Lamplighter, My Bed is a Boat, The Moon, The Swing, Time to Rise, Looking-Glass River, Fairy Bread, From a Railway Carriage, Winter-Time, The Hayloft, Farewell to the Farm, North-West Passage, The Unseen Playmate, My Ship and I, My Kingdom, Picture-Books in Winter, My Treasures, Block City, The Land of Story-Books, Armies in the Fire, The Little Land, Night and Day, Nest Eggs, The Flowers, Summer Sun, The Dumb Soldier, Autumn Fires, The Gardener, Historical Associations, To Willie and Henrietta, To My Mother, To Auntie, To Minnie, To My Name-Child, To Any Reader.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDigireads.com Publishing
    Release dateJan 1, 2010
    ISBN9781420909135
    Author

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850, the only son of an engineer, Thomas Stevenson. Despite a lifetime of poor health, Stevenson was a keen traveller, and his first book An Inland Voyage (1878) recounted a canoe tour of France and Belgium. In 1880, he married an American divorcee, Fanny Osbourne, and there followed Stevenson's most productive period, in which he wrote, amongst other books, Treasure Island (1883), The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Kidnapped (both 1886). In 1888, Stevenson left Britain in search of a more salubrious climate, settling in Samoa, where he died in 1894.

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    Reviews for A Child's Garden of Verses

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    • 5/5
      Delightful, a classic
    • 3/5
      A Child’s Garden of Verses (Ages 4-8) by Robert Louis Stevenson is an unabridged collection of 61 poems evoking the world and feelings of childhood based on Stevenson's earliest memories. The anthology includes seasonal verses, bedtime rhymes, and poems of make-believe adventures, as well as an index. The illustrations are antique pictures by twenty well-known children's book illustrators, published between 1896 (Charles Robinson) and 1940 (Ruth Mary Hallock) and include Jessie Willcox Smith, Henrietta Willebeek Le Mair, and Willy Pogany's enchanting cover/end papers. Most of the art work has more sentimental appeal to adults and may be less captivating to children. Perhaps since these poems are perennial classics, they do come off as clichéd and patronizing, approaching childhood by looking down on it in a sentimental and nostalgic way. The rhyme of many of the poems sounds contrived and cloying, and the rhythms can soporific in their monotony. Thus, A Child’s Garden of Verses is one of those classic poetry anthologies adults think children should read, but probably will have limited appeal for its young readers.
    • 4/5
      I remember owning an abridged version of this book as a child. I later located a copy of the complete version in a library to read. I just re-read the complete version. The poems are age appropriate for children, but I suspect many of them are a bit dated for today's children. Still many of the poems stand the test of time. The edition I read was from 1905 with illustrations by Jessie Willcox Smith. These are watercolor plates chosen to illustration some of the poems. Most poems are accompanied by line drawings as well.
    • 3/5
      Whether your child has difficulty falling asleep, or wants to escape into fairyland, this book will satisfy all those desires. Short poems to amuse, long ones to lull and quiet; poems about singing, swinging, and travelling - everything a child does in his young life are detailed in these poems. The illustrations are simple, but give the poem just enough visual detail to entrance the listening child, or reading child. Colours are expressive, and reflect the mood of the poem. Sneaking robbers hush howling dogs and swings soar into the wild blue to join the birds.Though this set of poems might be a bit old fashioned nowadays, they still have merit in lives. There are still swings, windy nights, forests and jungles (real and imaginary) and there is always bedtime.
    • 2/5
      These poems are whimsical and easy for children to relate to. It was easy to understand the subjects of the poems. This book would be appropriate for children in 4th grade and up.
    • 4/5
      A great collection of children's poetry.
    • 5/5
      Stevenson can not simply sit quietly on a shelf. His works beg to be lifted and opened for new worlds to discover. As a child, he was lonely and ill and many of the poems in this collection for children exude that sense of isolation.

      I'm sure everyone has their favorites, but mine was always THE LAMPLIGHTER. At my school in Melbourne, we would have a midday break of tea and biscuits, and my teacher would recite the beginning of this poem. It was Stevenson's ode to a world quickly changing, as electricity replaced gaslamps in the late 19th century.

      My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky
    • 5/5
      This is a personal favorite book of poetry from my childhood. I treasure this book, share it with my grandchildren and will leave it to Damon when I pass. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Great poems about childhood. They remind me of how I felt as a child. With wonder at every corner.
    • 4/5
      Summary:A great book of classic poetry that describes what children do during the day, listening to their elders and being thankful for what they have. This is a classic book with wonderful drawings by Eloise Wilkin to go along with the very 1950's style poetry. For example: "A child should always say what's true, and speak when he is spoken to, and behave mannerly at table: at least as far as he is able." Review:I loved this book as a child but did not read it to my kids. It is really outdated but I love the pictures and find that I am drawn to anything Eloise Wilkin put her hands on. I also have the version of Hilda Boswell's illustrations that are similar but have a different quality. These books will always be around because they are classics but every verse may not be read to children because the parents may have different views of a child's role in the world being much more active than passive.
    • 5/5
      The poems in this edition are selected for the modern child from Stevenson's popular collection. I had these poems memorized as a child, and loved reading them to my own children. Now, here's a shorter version that my grandkids can enjoy. The poems are beautifully illustrated with paintings that evoke those same feelings of childhood as the poetry does. What a wonderful introduction to both poetry and painting!
    • 4/5
      There is a reason Robert Louis Stevenson is so well-remembered. He had a knack for finding the right word in the right place, and his poems about childhood always hit the right spot.The illustrations in this book complement the rhymes perfectly.Please note that this edition is oversized, and it may be difficult to put on your bookshelf.
    • 3/5
      I have mixed opinions of this collection of poems. I read this aloud to my older son several years ago and he loved the poems, he even memorized several of them. He especially had fun memorizing My Shadow. I've just now finished reading it to my 8yo and have to say he was not impressed. We read a two-page spread every school day as part of our homeschool. Though the poems are written for children, they are written for Victorian children and the 8yo didn't understand half of the words used so we spent a lot of time discussing what each poem was really about and how it applied to things he would recognize in his life today. Sometime he'd think the poem was OK and he didn't dread me reading it but mostly he just thought they were boring. Myself, there are several of the popular poems that I think are wonderful: Bed in Summer, My Shadow, and Picture Books in Winter especially. Some others I'd rather do without.This edition is particularly nice as it is profusely illustrated with sometimes several pictures per poem by contemporary children's book artists of the time such as Jessie Wilcox Smith and C.M. Burd along with a host of others. I just love the illustrations and could pull this book off the shelf and just browse through it for pure enjoyment. The 8yo though did not appreciate the old-fashioned pictures especially when he couldn't tell the boys from the girls. However, this is poetry I think every child should be exposed to, some will enjoy, others will not. For one, my son will forever remember the name "Robert Louis Stevenson".
    • 5/5
      A hardcover version of this collection of poems written by Robert Louis Stevenson over 100 years ago entertained me and my siblings when we were children, and this version, with its watercolor illustrations by Tasha Tudor, brought back many memories. Stevenson's poems were among the first for children, and are all about simpler times, when children sent model sailboats down rivers, played in the garden until the lamplighters came out at dusk, and played with toy soldiers for hours on end. I think that these poems would be wonderful to share with a class as a read aloud, and could be compared with what children do often nowadays for entertainment and play. Because most of the poems are fairly simple, this collection might also be a vehicle for introducing students to writing their own poetry.
    • 5/5
      This is a book of poems that is suitable for children in the early childhood level. Kids will love the catchy poems and colorful pictures in this book.
    • 4/5
      Most of these poems were timeless. They were written for and about children from the 1800's, but can apply to children in 2018. Examples include poems about bed time, playing, imagination, and adventures. That being said, there are some poems that are not culturally acceptable in 2018. I think that this book of poetry can be used as a great teaching tool. It is also a great chance to show students how far we have come.
    • 5/5
      This delightful collection combines 19th century poetry with simple illustrations that capture the innocence of childhood. The images are colorful with clean lines, multicultural children, and appropriate pictures expressing the mood and tone of each poem, and infusing the language with light and love. The images seemed to be inspired by the 1950’s and upon further research I discovered they were originally done in 1957.
    • 5/5
      Outstanding poetry for kids and their parents, this edition is the most delightfully illustrated (by Gyo Fujikawa).
    • 5/5
      Belonged to Gramma Spray. She inscribed it and gave it to my daughter in 1991.
    • 2/5
      Pretty boring and lacking in any evidence of technical ability. But occasionally cute, I guess.
    • 5/5
      This was given to me in 1977 by my good friend Melanie from Pittsburgh, who was replacing one of the few books I owned in childhood. The illustrations have been seared into my memory since I was five. Robert Louis Stevenson's poems are just right for children to wonder and to love. More than forty years later, I have to say--Thanks, Melanie!
    • 5/5
      i loved this book when i was a child and i love it just as much now
    • 5/5
      Who wrote, "The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings"? Did you guess Robert Louis Stevenson? Poetry is not my favorite form of literature. However, Stevenson is one of my best-loved authors, and I have always liked his poetry because, unlike some other poetry that I have read, it makes sense to me. One of my favorites is “The Swing”:How do you like to go up in a swing,Up in the air so blue?Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thingEver a child can do! Of course, one would buy this edition of A Child’s Garden of Verses not only for Stevenson’s poetry (this is not a complete version but a newly revised selection) but also for Brian Wildsmith’s gorgeous, whimsical illustrations. Wildsmith, born in 1931 at the mining village of Penistone in Yorkshire, England, has been called one of the greatest living children’s book illustrators. Stevenson’s poems perfectly capture the make-believe imagination of childhood. What child has not pretended at one time or another that his bed is a ship sailing the wide seas? And Wildsmith’s stunning, colorful paintings perfectly capture the joyful childhood innocence of Stevenson’s poetry. While the language may be upper class Victorian England, the appeal is universal. This would make a wonderful book for a parent to read aloud while the child gazes at the pictures.
    • 4/5
      I love this edition - a Dover hardback with beautiful dark green cover, vellum-like dust jacket and red satin bookmark ribbon. Looking forward to enjoying these poems - naive and playful, though tinged with some ominous subtle melancholy.
    • 4/5
      A Child's Garden of Verses is the epitome of poetry for and about children. The imagination of a child grows wild and free among the pages. Hopes and fears are expressed as only children can. The sense of wonder and innocence resonates as reminders to all adults about how the world once was.
    • 4/5
      A great collection of poetry for young children.The artwork is also very delightful.
    • 3/5
      This is the perfect first poetry book to add to a child's personal library. The poems range from very short to page long, with focus on nature, fantasy, make-believe, and other fun activities of childhood.
    • 4/5
      4PAge range: 4-8 years.Radical Change: I don't think radical change applies to this book.Selected poem: "Foreign Lands" (p. 22)
    • 5/5
      I love Child's Garden of Verses and have several copies with different illustrations. This one is one of my favorites with illustrations by George Trimmer. My favorites are The Cow, The Swing, The Land of Counterpane, and My Shadow.
    • 5/5
      This is one of the first books I read while I was still in grade school. It was part of the reading of Robert Louis Stevenson that made him one of my lifetime favorite authors. "I have a little shadow". I still have the copy of this book that belonged to my mother when she was a young girl.

    Book preview

    A Child's Garden of Verses - Robert Louis Stevenson

    A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES

    BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

    A Digireads.com Book

    Digireads.com Publishing

    Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-2607-1

    Ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-0913-5

    This edition copyright © 2011

    Please visit www.digireads.com

    To Alison Cunningham

    From Her Boy

    For the long nights you lay awake

    And watched for my unworthy sake:

    For your most comfortable hand

    That led me through the uneven land:

    For all the story-books you read:

    For all the pains you comforted:

    For all you pitied, all you bore,

    In sad and happy days of yore:—

    My second Mother, my first Wife,

    The angel of my infant life—

    From the sick child, now well and old,

    Take, nurse, the little book you hold!

    And grant it, Heaven, that all who read

    May find as dear a nurse at need,

    And every child who lists my rhyme,

    In the bright, fireside, nursery clime,

    May hear it in as kind a voice

    As made my childish days rejoice!

    R. L. S.

    CONTENTS

    To Alison Cunningham

    I. Bed in Summer

    II. A Thought

    III. At the Sea-Side

    IV. Young Night-Thought

    V. Whole Duty of Children

    VI. Rain

    VII. Pirate Story

    VIII. Foreign Lands

    IX. Windy Nights

    X. Travel

    XI. Singing

    XII. Looking Forward

    XIII. A Good Play

    XIV. Where Go the Boats?

    XV. Auntie's Skirts

    XVI. The Land of Counterpane

    XVII. The Land of Nod

    XVIII. My Shadow

    XIX. System

    XX. A Good Boy

    XXI. Escape at Bedtime

    XXII. Marching Song

    XXIII. The Cow

    XXIV. Happy Thought

    XXV. The Wind

    XXVI. Keepsake Mill

    XXVII. Good and Bad Children

    XXVIII. Foreign Children

    XXIX. The Sun Travels

    XXX. The Lamplighter

    XXXI. My Bed is a Boat

    XXXII. The Moon

    XXXIII. The Swing

    XXXIV. Time to Rise

    XXXV. Looking-Glass River

    XXXVI. Fairy Bread

    XXXVII. From a Railway Carriage

    XXXVIII. Winter-Time

    XXXIX. The Hayloft

    XL. Farewell to the Farm

    XLI. North-West Passage.

    THE CHILD ALONE

    I. The Unseen Playmate

    II. My Ship and I

    III. My Kingdom

    IV. Picture-Books in Winter

    V. My Treasures

    VI. Block City

    VII. The Land of Story-Books

    VIII. Armies in the Fire

    IX. The Little Land

    GARDEN DAYS

    I. Night and Day

    II. Nest Eggs

    III. The Flowers

    IV. Summer Sun

    V. The Dumb Soldier

    VI. Autumn Fires

    VII. The Gardener

    VIII. Historical Associations

    ENVOYS

    I. To Willie and Henrietta

    II. To My Mother

    III. To Auntie

    IV. To Minnie

    V. To My Name-Child

    VI. To Any Reader

    I. Bed in Summer

    In winter I get up

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